Tuesday, October 30, 2018

10 Movies I Could Never Get Sick of Watching

I'm not saying these are the best films of all-time. There are many movies that I think are much greater than these, but that I could only watch once.

This post pays tribute to the movies I could watch over and over. The kind of movie you might flip on to have in the background while cleaning the house. I present these, aggressively-unapologetically, in no particular order.

1. You've Got Mail

Look. I don't care what you say. It's a nearly perfect film. I watch it every Thanksgiving morning while I cook pies that my family definitely won't eat. I could quote the entire movie at you, word-for-word from the opening line all the way to the part where Meg Ryan says "I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly."

AND I CRY EVERY TIME.

Once a week I think about the part where Joe Fox tells Kathleen Kelly, after driving her out of business, "it wasn't personal." She responds, "What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me. It's personal to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway. Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal."

But my favorite: the cafe scene where Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly meet for their first date is script-writing masterpiece.

"You've deluded yourself into thinking that you're some sort of benefactor, bringing books to the masses. But no one will ever remember you, Joe Fox. And maybe no one will remember me, either, but plenty of people remember my mother, and they think she was fine, and they think her store was something special. You are nothing but a suit."

2. The Truman Show

I don't know why, but I just want to live inside this movie. And sometimes I feel like I do. This was such a creative film with an incredible cast (shout out to my girl Laura). Every scene of this movie is beautiful art, from the colorful imagery of the idealistic town, to the sickeningly-cliche banter between the residents, to the folks at home escaping into this sanitized monotony by staring at their TVs instead of living their own lives--it's magical.

Once a week I think about the scene where Laura Linney drops into the middle of an advertisement for Mococoa during Jim Carey's very serious meltdown; ultimately she breaks from her TV character, screaming "do something!" to the hidden producers as the two start physically attacking one another.

"What the Hell are you talking about?! Who you talking to?!"

"I've tasted other cocoas. This is the best!"

3. Mean Girls

I could watch this movie five times a day for the rest of my life and never grow tired of it. It is beloved by nearly everyone, and it is still extremely underrated. Find me a better five seconds in any film than when Amy Poehler says "I'm not a regular mom; I'm a cool mom." The pacing in this movie makes it so there is never a single boring moment. I can't think of any movie where there are as many lines that are fun to quote completely out of context.

I would like my legacy to be that I have written a scene as exceptional as the one where Cady meets The Plastics.

"If you're from Africa, why are you white?"

"Oh my God Karen; you can't just ask people why they're white."

4. Philomena

Easily one of my favorite movies of all time. The scene where Philomena tells the old nun that she forgives her after decades of living in torture because this nun took Philomena's baby from her and gave him away makes me sob every time. I think it's one of the most powerful scenes in the history of film.

"I want you to know that I forgive you."

"What? Just like that!?"

"It's not just like that. That's hard. That's hard for me. But I don't want to hate people. I don't want to be like you."

Usually when people ask I tell them this is my favorite movie. This is another that I could quote from beginning to end. Catherine O'Hara is a treasure, and her character's audition scene with her husband for the town musical is perfection.

But my very favorite scene of the movie (and this is like choosing which of my children I love the most) is when Corky, the director of the community production (celebrating Blaine Missouri's sesquicentennial), asks the town council for $100,000. The council laughs at this, denying his request, telling Corky "our budget for the entire year is $8,000. And that includes swimming." To which he responds "there's not gonna be any swimmin' in my show."

"We're talking about my life. And it's forcing me to do something I don't want to do. To leave. To, to go out and just leave and go home and say, make a clean cut here and say 'no way, Corky, you're not puttin' up with these people!' And I'll tell you why I can't put up with you people: because you're BASTARD people! That's what you are! You're just bastard people! And I'm goin' home and I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna BITE MY PILLOW, is what I'm gonna do!"

6. The Color Purple

My uncle introduced it to me when I was in college and it had a profound impact on me. This is a gorgeous film. I think Whoopi Goldberg is such a big personality that we sometimes forget that she is an incredible actress. (Oprah, too.) I love Whoopi's character in this film--her ability to stay positive on some level despite the constant barrage of horrors she experiences throughout her life.

Every time I hear Shug say "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it," I start crying.

But the best scene of the film is when Whoopi finds her strength to finally leave the man who has abused her for most of her life.

Fight me. Fight me on this. Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a masterpiece. There is not a second of this film that is not absolutely brilliant. From the Tim Burton cartoonishly-dark vibe to Danny Elfman's perfect score to every line packed with at least five subtle jokes, this film does not get enough credit.

Pee Wee's bike has been stolen, and he is on a quest to travel the country to find it. One scene cuts to Pee Wee talking with a police officer, who can be heard to sincerely say "and what leads you to believe the Soviets are involved?" Or there's the scene where the ambiguously-asexual Pee Wee fends off a love interest by telling her in a harsh voice "you don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner. A rebel." before skipping off, giggling.

Or Large Marge! Or the masterful ending where Pee Wee sells the rights of his life story, which is then made into an action film that completely bastardizes the real story and in which Pee Wee's character is played by a James-Bond-type figure and when Dotty asks Pee Wee if he wants to watch the movie he says "I don't need to see it. I lived it."

You guys. This film. is. a. masterpiece.

"It's like you're unraveling a cable-knit sweater, and someone keeps knitting, and knitting, and knitting, and knitting . . ."

8. My Cousin Vinny

I only wish being a lawyer was this exciting. I could never get tired of watching the courtroom scenes in this movie.

Marisa Tomei deserved her Academy Award for this film for all of the heavy lifting she did from the beginning to the end. But her best work is the one most often referenced: her testimony about why the car that left the tire marks in front of the scene of the crime could not have possibly belonged to the defendants.

"The defense is wrong!"

9. Babe

What can I say? I like animals that talk.

If this film doesn't make you feel happiness, you need professional help. I am unreasonably proud of the sheep and wolf working together to help Babe, this pure soul, to perform at the sheep-herding competition at the end of the movie.

Also, there are few animal/human scenes as beautiful as the one where the farmer-of-few-words sings to the sick pig.

"If I had words/ To make a day for you/ I sing you a morning golden and new/ I would make this day/ Last for all time/ Give you a night/ Deep in moonshine/ If I had words/ To make a day for you."

10. Hairspray (2007)

My love for this film is probably the gayest thing about me. AND I'M DATING A MAN RIGHT NOW.

I smile so hard for the entirety of this film that I have to schedule sad activities after so I can have a break from all the happiness. Everyone in this movie, from Michelle Pfeiffer to Amanda Bynes to Zac Efron to John Travolta in drag to Nikki Blonsky to Queen FREAKING Latifah, is pure perfection.

I just rewatched The Truman Show a few months ago and was in awe again at its genius. I am totally with you on the first half of this list, the second half I just haven't seen any of those movies.

My list would probably also include The Italian Job, the Bourne Movies, and the Ocean Movies. When I was younger I would have included Space Jam and While You Were Sleeping, but I haven't watched either of those movies recently enough to know if they still deserve spots. ALSO, I will @ you my kids in their halloween costumes tomorrow, because if we didn't live two full midwest size states away, they would be repeat visitors at your house on Halloween, complete with costume changes for two reasons: 1. THERE WILL BE KIDS, and 2. Duncan (and secretly, for me, 3. Skylar)

OH. And I wanted to talk Halloween movies with you, because my oldest is now old enough that I think I can watch the movies from my childhood that still haunt me (I really probably should be in therapy for my issue with mirrors from Watcher in the Woods...) So my list of childhood horror movies is: The Witches (based on the Roald Dahl book - but it's actually scary, when I was a kid), Watcher in the Woods (which was, believe it or not, a Disney movie, live action, from the 80s, and so so so traumatizing. Labyrinth - another brilliant movie. And I feel like there was one more, one more... think think think... OH. The Huggabunch. yeah. another mirrors thing. nope. Have you seen any of those absolute gems?

Because it was so scary? Anytime I saw a woman wearing shoes like that... stranger danger indeed. One more I remembered that my sister and I liked watching when we were older was Practical Magic. And there was another from my childhood I just remembered, and watched the trailer and I don't know how it scared me as a child, but IT DID. "Lady in White" from 1988 - go to IMDB and watch the trailer!

AND breaking news: While I was on the IMDB website I looked up watcher in the woods, and they made a new one! in 2017! With Melissa Joan Hart directing it, and Angelica Huston starring in it! I don't even know! Exclamation point!

1) Pretty Woman. This has been one my favorites since I was a little girl!! As an “adult” I can’t believe my mother let me watch this but as she says “you didn’t know what was happening, you are fine.” 2) Dumb and Dumber. My cousin and I used to watch this every morning and then the rest of the day we would act out the whole movie over and over. 3) Hocus Pocus. ‘Nuff said! 4) Jurassic Park. It holds up so well and I still get scared even though I know *spoiler alert* the T-Rex is actually the good guy.

Because of repeated viewings, I can quote Dangerous Liasons on command. ("Like most intellectuals, he is intensely stupid.") I have read the book twice (not in French of course). I know the scenes while just listening to the soundtrack. I'm a sucker for films with a female lead, and when that lead actor is Glenn Close, the results are mesmerizing. Boy howdy!

Solid list. I’ve only seen Philomena once in theaters but it was so beautiful it really stuck with me and now any time I watch Steve Coogan or Dame Judi Dench in anything at all I think back on that movie.

I also love the diversity of this list! Truman Show and Man in the Moon are my favorite Jim Carey movies. I basically lived Hairspray my entire senior year of high school — I did You Can’t Stop The Beat so many times in two different choirs, complete with technicolor wigs and choreography (the wigs had been acquired the previous year when we sang Popular from Wicked).

I love everything Christopher Guest has ever done. The man can truly do no wrong — EVEN KILLING INIGO MONTOYA’S FATHER.

And of course, Mean Girls is the most important movie for any woman my age. Well, right after the 1997 The Parent Trap remake. My brother recently described his favorite movie to me as “it’s my Mean Girls”.

I’m terrible at personal favorites, but a list would absolutely include the following:

I wrote a research paper on the former in middle school and know so much more about that movie than anyone has a right to, and the latter actually represents my first memory of high school — at the very first assembly my freshman year, a guy wore a “vote for Pedro” shirt and did the dance. Then I saw the movie and it was the weirdest yet most relatable movie ever. I forever love it and will never stop quoting it. Also one of my college friends is from Idaho, near where they filmed this, and says that’s a perfect depiction of life in Idaho.

I can’t decide if my tenth movie should be Monty Python’s Holy Grail or That Thing You Do. I’ve known of Python longer but I’ve loved That Thing You Do since discovering it in high school (when it was already 10 years old but c’est la vie).

This debate has consumed my thoughts for the past day and a half WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME ELI.

Correction - Mean Girls being on this list is the gayest thing about you! But seriously, we call these "have to stop and watch TV" movies in our house. My husband's are definitely My Cousin Vinnie and Father of the Bride and mine include Mean Girls, A League of Their Own and, because I am a basic B*tch, any Harry Potter movie!

There can never be too many Rockies. It's so much more than boxing. It's friendship and love and family and the struggle of the working class and throwing turkeys into the alley and seeing people for who they really are.

I'll share my top ten (although some are technically more than 10 because they're series).

1. While you were sleeping.

I love everything about this movie and quote it all the time. I watch it when I'm bored, when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm sick - it just gives me all the feels. Sandra Bullock's life is what I feel my life would be if I hadn't met my husband. Not that I'm an orphan with no siblings - my parents didn't die until I was in my 30s and I'm the youngest of 7 kids, but I FEEL like I'm an orphan with no siblings . . .

2. Hunger Games - the entire series.

Katniss Everdeen is my spirit sister. Always surprised by the outcome of the decisions she makes. Never wanting to be in the spotlight but always ending up there. Strong because she is weak.

3. Breakfast Club

I actually am not a big fan of a lot of John Hughes movies but this one spoke to me. The letter at the end . . . so relatable: We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is that we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is . . . a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club.

My son was recently assigned to Saturday School for defending himself against a bully and it's now my mission to show him this movie.

4. Must Love Dogs

Diane Lane's dating life feels like my own before I met my husband.

5. Under the Tuscan Sun

Because Diane Lane again and every time I watch it I want to move to Italy.

6. Robin Hood (1991 version)

Yes - the accents are terrible. But I still love it. When it came out 16 of us from my youth group went to the theater to see it. 10 of us rode in my two-door Pontiac LeMans hatchback . . . and we still quote it! "There was a rich man from Nottingham who tried to cross the river, What a Dope, he tripped on a rope, Now look at him Shiver! Beg for mercy rich man!" "I beg of no man." Or "I'm going to cut his heart out - with a spoon!"

7. How to Train Your Dragon

I had to convince my 3 year old son to go see this. Now we've seen it at least 3248 times. At least. He watched in 5 times in one car ride - with the commentary. Which means I listened to it 5 times in one car ride - with commentary. And I didn't mind one bit! We can't wait for the final installment next year.

8. The Sound of Music

This was my mom's favorite movie and I watch it every year and can feel her in the room. No one can talk when Edelweiss is on.

9. X-Men - all of them really but particularly the original.

Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine.

10. Watcher in the Woods.

Scariest movie that isn't a scary movie ever. My birthday is around Halloween (3 days ago - you forgot to wish me a happy birthday) and I always had a party where we would go trick or treating, watch this movie, and then play light as a feather, stiff as a board.

I am so excited right now, no one ever knows Watcher in the Woods! What I learned is that it's all in the music, if you watch it without sound, it is way less creepy, it's just literally a girl going for walks in the woods. You add that music in... tell me, do mirrors give you problems now? I have a hard time walking past them in the dark. (Amy Rose)

I'm double excited because you're right - no one EVER knows Watcher in the Woods and it may be my favorite movie of all time. I'm okay with mirrors but that scene where she writes Karen backwards on the window . . . just thinking about it gives me chills!

I love funny movies, so my list would probably only include those. At the top would be Bridesmaids. When the scene comes on where the food poisoning kicks in, I laugh so hard I can barely breathe. Every. Single. Time. Melissa McCarthy MADE that movie.

If you had a category for stupid/funny movies that are also slyly brilliant, then my top would be Stepbrothers. My kids and I quote that movie constantly.

"Good morning! And if I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!" Brilliant. I'm forever obsessed with Love, Actually and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I sure do love me some goodonle Jim C.

Ok, I'm a nerd, but years ago you were in Europe videotaping yourself walking back to your hotel in the middle of the night and you mentioned the youttthhhhves (The Utes to those that don't know but should know). A) I KNEW My cousin Vinny would be on your list. B) That was the night I fell in love with you. DO YOU HAVE MAGIC GRITS?

I felt like it's worth saying that my name is Cady and I too was homeschooled till high school. The great thing about this was that I had multiple HS teachers that loved Mean Girls, so I think this won me some points with them. I've never lived in Africa, but that might've been taking things too far.

I am horrified to note that you missed the greatest movie of all time. But not just you, ALL of the comments thus far. HOW HAS NO ONE MENTIONED NACHO LIBRE?!! It was my favorite movie for the music, the humor, the writing, etc.. then when HDTVs came out, all of the DVDs you'd play on them were not filmed for it so they all looked like the Blair Witch Project, EXCEPT NACHO LIBRE which looked like the most high budget, cinematic beauty. COME ON, Strangers. I thought you were better than this.

I have a hard time with making a list because I do get sick of any songs/movies/quotes that are overplayed/overly quoted. For example, at the family reunion after The Emperor's New Groove came out, every single one of my cousins were quoting it nonstop. THE SAME LINES. OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I do still love this movie, just not as often.

I guess my list would include:The Happiest MillionaireMeet the Robinsons The Ghost and Mr ChickenMr Magorium's Wonder EmporiumFantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (Again, I can't wait for the next one!!!!)A Day at the RacesBlackbeard's GhostWhere The Heart IsThat Thing You DoMs Congeniality 2 Hidden Figures

In no particular order:The Court JesterA Song is BornDr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog10 things I Hate About You How to Lose a Guy in 10 DaysThe Princess BrideBetter Off DeadArsenic & Old LaceAugust RushNorth and SouthAustenland

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (original) - change my mind.The Shawshank Redemption - I cry EVERY time. Poor Brooks.Harry PotterZootopia - I ask my kids to watch this more than they ask me to watch it.Where the Heart Is A Christmas Story Gran Torino

In no particular order ...The Sound of MusicNapoleon DynamiteZoolanderDan in Real LifeThe Secret Life of Walter MittyTop GunThe IncrediblesThe Pirate Movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084504/ My sister and I can quote this whole movie)The Parent Trap with Hayley Mills

I’m so glad you included Mean Girls, cause that’s also on my list! I used to put that movie on when I went to sleep every night FOR YEARS because it’s so great (also, there’s probably something wrong with me haha!)

I was in a coma and I have ZERO memory, so I can't make a list. I have SO many favorites, there is no way I could do just 10. No, nu uh.In no particular order:The Color Purple (I have watched the movie as well as read the book at least several hundred times)The Shawshank RedemptionFrench Kiss - one of my very favorites You'll be one of those grumpy old men sitting in the corner of a crowded cafe, mumbling to yourself, "My ass is twitching. Your people make my ass twitch."

I tend to like movies I can sing to because I can hear them over my embroidery machine running. In no particular order: Burlesque, Enchanted, The Wedding Singer, School of Rock, Nacho Libre, Down Periscope, Tommy Boy, Pitch Perfect, Secondhand Lion, oh Brother Where Art Thou

I'm in the holiday mindset so the two that jumped to mind first were Love Actually (I watch this on loop during December) and Muppet Christmas Carol (THIS is my Christmas Story 24 hour marathon movie, however Christmas Story is a classic as well).

Totally agree on Mean Girls, Clueless has a place in my heart, so does 10 things I hate about You.

Others:Ever After with ass-kicking Drew Barrymore CinderellaPrincess BrideEasy AHe's Just Not that into You - I pull this one out when I need to be set straight about a crush, and I guess I need to watch this tonight I'm realizing.